On Sunday October 3rd, 2005 at St. Eugene de Mazenod mission in Brampton, the groundbreaking ceremony took place.  Thousands of people gathered for this celebration and a number of Oblates were also present.  Among them were Fr. Provincial, Fr. Janusz Blazejak, Fr. Andrzej Sowa, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe parish, Fr. Alfred Grzempa, pastor of St. Casimir’s parish.  The mayor of Brampton, Susan Fennel, was also in attendance, as were other politicians.  The groundbreaking ceremony took place on the site of the new church.  Our Provincial was the main celebrant at the Mass and delivered the homily.  After the liturgy at the site, a banquet took place at the Pearson Convention Centre in Brampton, where over 650 people took part.  We would like to congratulate Fr. Adam Filas, pastor of St. Eugene de Mazenod mission, and the parish community, for starting this milestone project.  For your information, the cost of building the church alone will be over $10 million.  The construction itself will begin in early spring, 2006.  If you would like to see pictures from the ceremony and other photos of parish life, please visit the St. Eugene de Mazenod parish website:  http://www.sw-eugeniusz.org/

      We would like to take this opportunity and invite you to join us on October 22, 2005 at Roy Thomson Hall for the John Paul II Legacy Concert organized by Fr. Marian Gil OMI and Catholic Radio. This concert will mark the 27th anniversary of the election of Karol Cardinal Wojtyla as the 264^th successor to St. Peter. It is our wish to commemorate the legacy of John Paul II and to promote the values that he taught us throughout the 26 years of his pontificate. The artistic program will include an exciting pop-oratorio composed by Zbigniew Malkowicz as well as many vocalists including renowned tenor Marek Torzewski. The entire concert will be directed by renowned conductor, Michael Newnham, who will be accompanied by the Silver Symphony Orchestra and a 100-voice choir. Video clips showing Pope John Paul II will be displayed on large screens and will inspire us all to remember his legacy and put his teachings into practice in our lives.

      Holy Angels parish recently experienced a string of break-ins to the church, and especially to the candle offertory boxes.  As this has previously happened already, Fr. Giovanni Gioppato has installed heavy-gauge offertory boxes, but for the thieves it was a piece of cake to break into them.  They came with heavy torches and cut the boxes in half, taking them out.  Fr. Giovanni is perplexed, his arms figuratively folded, and is clueless as to what to do.  Let’s wait for news from Fr. Giovanni and see what happens next.

      On Sunday October 9^th, at St. Casimir’s Church, Toronto, the installation of the new pastor, Fr. Fred Grzempa, took place.  The main celebrant was Bishop Richard Grecco.  It goes without saying that a visible number of altar servers from Brampton were present at the event.

      On Saturday October 15th at St. Maximilian Kolbe parish, Fr. Andrzej Sowa was installed as the fifth pastor of the parish. Bishop Boissonneau conducted the ceremony.  Fr. Janusz, the Provincial, was there too, as were the Provincial Council members.

      Recently Fr. Marian Mroz OMI was admitted to the hospital for some stomach problems. He is now back at Kopernik Lodge in Vancouver and slowly recovering. Please keep him in your prayers. On November 21st Fr. Mroz will be celebrating his 90th birthday. We take this opportunity of wishing him well and more importantly, we wish him good health and our Lord’s choicest blessings. Happy Birthday!!!

      As you know, Fr. Chris Pulchny has undergone a complete blood transfusion and at the present time it is still too early to say for sure that it was successful as he is very tired and experiences bad headaches. Please keep him in your prayers.

      On October 12th, Fr. Janusz Jajesniak underwent a hernia operation.  Everything went well.  Fr. Janusz writes that it was okay as operations go, but the pain is unbearable.  We wish Fr. Janusz a quick return to good health and perseverance in his current discomfort.

      We are in the process of finalizing our Provincial Personnel Directory for 2006.  Please forward us any changes to your e-mail addresses, web page addresses, phone numbers and other details before we send our updated booklets to the print shop.  We need all your updates within the next week.

      Every member of the Province should already have received the legal letters from the Provincial office concerning a new Last Will & Testament, Power of Attorney for Health Care and an informational sheet.  The attached letter explains how we should fill out the documents.  Please make sure that your Will and Power of Attorney documents are signed by two witnesses and all three documents are mailed back to the Provincial office by the end of October.  Many of the existing wills and power of attorneys in our files are invalid as they do not have sufficient witness signatures.  If you have any problems filling out these forms, please contact our office and we will be glad to help you out.

      A couple of days ago, everyone in the Province should have received an e-mail or fax regarding the vocational brochure that’s being published by our Province, as well as a sample of the brochure.  Along with this e-mail, an order form was sent.  Just to remind you, it is a full-colour brochure prepared by our office to promote vocations on the 50^th anniversary of our Province.  The brochure will be printed in two separate versions: one in Polish and one in English.  Please fill out the order form and e-mail it or fax it to us as soon as possible.

      On Saturday October 8th, St. Mary’s parish in Wilno was host to pilgrims who had come to celebrate the 100^th birthday of St. Faustyna.  Three buses came this year – less than usual, due to the difficulty of renting vehicles on a Thanksgiving weekend.  Two coaches came from Toronto and one from St. Catharines.  Individuals in private vehicles also came.  Fr. Miroslaw Olszewski, administrator of St. Mary’s parish, celebrated Mass and gave the homily.  Concelebrating were Fr. Kazimierz Kozicki OMI, Fr. Wladyslaw Krukar of the Michaelite Fathers from London, and Fr. Szymon Stefanowicz of the Pauline Fathers of Jasna Gora, Poland.  The Passionist Sisters from Peterborough also were present.  Next year’s celebration of St. Faustyna’s feast day will take place on September 30. 2006.

    Please note the following new e-mail addresses:

• Maciej Pajak:                            maciej@holyghostparish.net

• Chris Pulchny:                           chris@omiap.org

• Stanislaw Kowal:                       swjacek@swjacek.ca

• Holy Ghost Parish Web:             www.holyghostparish.net

               If you are interested in boating or jet-skiing you must know the following: As of Jan. 01, 2006 tests necessary for receiving a Pleasure Craft Operator Card will be allowed only at approved "Test Sites". This means that "At Home" testing will be discontinued at that time. Due to the cost of complying with the requirements, the retail price of administering the tests will be dramatically higher. TheOperatorCard.ca will provide "At Home" testing – the present system – until Dec.31, 2005, at which time this process will be discontinued. Remember, everyone will have to have a Pleasure Craft Operator Card in order to operate a boat, jet-ski or any other water craft.  

      The following Oblate confreres in our Province will soon be celebrating their birthdays.  We would like to wish them all the best. Happy Birthday to you all!

• October 23      - Fr. Rudy Nowakowski

• October 23      - Fr. Jan Sadowski

• October 24      - Fr. Jacek Nosowicz

• October 27      - Fr. Wladyslaw Karciarz

      We remember the following deceased confreres:

• October 20, 1976          - Fr. Wladyslaw Panek

• October 21, 1962          - Fr. Richard Kosian (I)

• October 23, 1992          - Fr. Frank Frazik

• October 26, 2002         - Fr. Michael J. Smith

• October 28, 1971          - Fr. Bernard Kopec

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord.
And may perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.
 

      We request information regarding various important events so that we can inform the rest of the Province on an ongoing basis.  Please send news to provincial@omiap.org

      The Provincial Council met on October 10 - 15, 2005, and among other things discussed the results of the consultation sent to you regarding the appointment of a new District Superior for the Toronto area. Provincial in Council approved and nominates Fr. Andrzej Sowa OMI as Superior of the Toronto District for a first term of three years. His Consultors will be: Fr. Adam Filas OMI and Fr. Alfred Grzempa OMI. The installation of Fr. Andrzej & his consultors will take place at our annual Oblate Christmas gathering to be held at Holy Angels Parish on Wednesday, December 28, 2005.

      The first Provincial Council of the new administration took place from October 10-15 in Toronto.  The following is the composition of committees and commissions in our Province approved by Provincial in Council.